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25 Ways to Tell if You’re a Graphic Designer

November 23, 2015SheilaFreelancing, Random6 Commentsbad logos, comic sans, funny, graphic design, jokes, Logo Design, mad max

You know you’re a graphic designer when…

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Design is Not a Commodity

May 21, 2015SheilaBusiness Tips, Graphic Design11 Commentsbusiness, cheap, commodity, contests, graphic design, logo, Logo Design, online

Unfortunately for me and my fellow designers, graphic design just happens to be one of those things that are starting to be considered a commodity. Which would be fine, but of course, it isn’t actually a commodity.

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Why Good Design Matters

November 25, 2014SheilaBusiness Tips, Graphic Design3 Commentsclients, customers, design, graphic design, logo, value, website

Have you ever gone to a website or picked up a business card from a new company only to find yourself dissatisfied or uninterested? Me too. Which got me thinking… there’s a lot of talk about what you need to do to create a killer website, or a great logo. But why does good design even matter? Why do you need it? I’ll tell you why.   There’s an intangible value to good graphic design. It’s more than getting…

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8 Reasons Why Design Contests Are Bad for Clients

September 29, 2014SheilaBusiness Tips, Graphic Design, Marketing9 Commentscheap design, crowdsourcing, design, design contests, graphic design, logo, spec work

Last week we talked about the dangers of design contests for designers, which are usually pretty obvious. But for the clients that actually get work done from them, the dangers can be a little more elusive. If you are the owner of a start-up, or simply don’t know where to turn to find a decent design, I’m sure the allure of design contests sound pretty sweet. Heck, they sure market them enough to push anyone’s…

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Who Owns the Rights to Your Design Work?

August 27, 2014SheilaBusiness Tips, Freelancing, Random69 Commentsclient, copyright, files, freelancing, graphic design, InDesign, ownership, rights

So you’ve just gotten a killer brochure designed. You can’t wait to print it and start using it. But you’re also thinking long term…what if, in a few months, some of the information needs to be changed? So you decide to ask the designer for the native or source files (i.e. the program that the file was originally built in, and is editable). And they happily say…no. Wait, what??

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How to Give Your Graphic Designer Feedback in 11 Easy Steps

July 21, 2014SheilaBusiness Tips, Graphic Design19 Commentsaudience, business, business goals, client, design, feedback, goals, graphic design, logo

A couple weeks ago, we were talking about how your designer is not an order taker. I made a pretty convincing case as to why, as the client, you should refrain from telling your graphic designer how to do their job. But of course we’re now all wondering, when and how should you offer feedback? If at all? Rest assured, I think it’s perfectly fine and healthy for a client to provide constructive feedback in…

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5 Freelancer Myths

October 28, 2013SheilaFreelancing, Graphic Design8 Commentsdesign, design firm, free, freelancer, graphic design, marketing, myth, professional, projects, testimonials

As a freelance graphic designer, I’ve come across a few myths in regards to my chosen profession. People seem to have some understandable, and sometimes strange, objections or concerns to hiring a freelancer. Hopefully this should clear some of those up.

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7 Things Game of Thrones Taught Me About Branding and Marketing

August 23, 2013SheilaBranding, Geeky Stuff, Marketing, Random8 Commentsbranding, client, customer, Game of Thrones, graphic design, logo, loyalty, marketing, reputation, spoiler, tagline

As a graphic designer who dabbles in marketing and branding, I’m always on the lookout for new inspiration. I never thought I’d find it watching GoT, but the more I studied the plot and characters, the more I realized that it had more in common with solid marketing principles than I had previously thought.   *spoiler alert The following assumes you are a fan of Game of Thrones, and have at least watched through Season…

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Why I Renamed My Design Business

July 25, 2013SheilaBusiness Tips, Freelancing, Random6 Commentsbusiness, freelance, graphic design, professional, rename

Introducing…Apex Creative Hi all! To my loyal followers and fans, thank you for all of your continued support, and for your interest in what I’ve been up to. As you may be wondering, why the heck would I change my business name now? Especially as my brand equity has grown and organic search results are up. All I can say it, it’s been a long time coming. Ever since I started freelancing, I’ve struggled with…

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The 10 Logo Commandments

July 19, 2013SheilaLogo Designbad logos, color, creative, custom, good logos, graphic design, Illustrator, Logo Design, Microsoft Word, Photoshop, simple, timeless, unique, vector, versatile

What makes a good logo? When we’re talking about good logo design versus bad logo design, it’s helpful to know what we’re talking about exactly. If you ask 10 different designers what qualifies as a good logo, you’ll likely get 10 different answers. But if you keep digging, eventually you’ll start hearing a lot of the same thing being said.

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